#cognition

The inconsistencies that haunt our relationships with animals also result from the quirks of human cognition. We like to think of ourselves as the rational species. But research in cognitive psychology and behavioral economics shows that our thinking and behavior are often completely illogical. In one study, for example, groups of people were independently asked how much they would give to prevent waterfowl from being killed in polluted oil ponds. On average, the subjects said they would pay $80 to save 2,000 birds, $78 to save 20,000 birds, and $88 to save 200,000 birds. Sometimes animals act more logically than people do; a recent study found that when picking a new home, the decisions of ant colonies were more rational than those of human house-hunters. What is it about human psychology that makes it so difficult for us to think consistently about animals? The paradoxes that plague our interactions with other species are due to the fact that much of our thinking is a mire of instinct, learning, language, culture, intuition, and our reliance on mental shortcuts. ↗

— Hal Herzog

#behavior #charity #cognition #decision-making #ethics

I think what you're seeing is a profound recognition on the part of the American people that gays and lesbians and transgender persons are our brothers, our sisters, our children, our cousins, our friends, our co-workers, and that they've got to be treated like every other American. And I think that principle will win out. ↗

— Barack Obama

#american people #brothers #children #co-workers #cousins

The very idea of marriage is basic to recognition as equals in our society; any status short of that is inferior, unjust, and unconstitutional. ↗

— Ted Olson

#basic #equals #idea #inferior #marriage

I've come to recognize what I call my 'inside interests.' Telling stories. And helping people tell their stories is a sort of interpersonal gardening. My work at NBC News was to report the news, but in hindsight, I often tried to look for some insight to share that might spark a moment of recognition in a viewer. ↗

— Jane Pauley

#come #gardening #helping #helping people #hindsight

Appraisals are where you get together with your team leader and agree what an outstanding member of the team you are, how much your contribution has been valued, what massive potential you have and, in recognition of all this, would you mind having your salary halved. ↗

— Theodore Roosevelt

#been #contribution #get #get together #halved

There are really two types of laughter on the part of the spectator. There is the laughter of recognition - which means seeing things you're familiar with and laughing at yourself. But there's also hysterical laughter - a way of dealing with the things we see that upset us. ↗

— Michael Haneke

#dealing #familiar #hysterical #laughing #laughter

Finally, I also come in recognition of the great work that has been undertaken by the NGOs and UN agencies that have been active for many years here, especially through the local staff and international staff here in Somaliland and in Somalia at large. ↗

— Jan Egeland

#agencies #also #been #come #especially

The Great Idea in advertising is far more than the sum of the recognition scores, the ratings and all the other superficial indicators of its success; it is in the realm of myth, to which measurements cannot apply. ↗

— Leo Bogart

#apply #cannot #far #great #great idea

You can have your titular recognition. I'll take money and power. ↗

— Helen Gurley Brown

#money #power #recognition #take #you

To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event. ↗

— Henri Cartier-Bresson

#event #fraction #me #photography #recognition